The invention generally relates to an endoscope head comprising a plurality of function-related units or elements.
Endoscopes are especially used in medicine for the diagnostic viewing (mirror examination) of body cavities and hollow organs. Flexible endoscopes having a working passage for introducing instruments and an endoscope head which can be equipped with illuminating means, image transmitting means and other devices are sufficiently known from the prior art.
However, it has also been known since these endoscopes were introduced that by virtue of the inexpert cleaning, disinfection and sterilization thereof when the endoscopes are utilized several times, microorganisms, for instance, can be transmitted which, in turn, can transmit diseases from one patient to the other. Sufficient disinfection and sterilization of the endoscope involves considerable work and cost efforts and/or there also seem to be pathogens which are particularly resistant to the conventional disinfection methods.
Therefore, in principle, endoscopes are provided with endoscope heads consisting of a plurality of electrical, optical and hydraulic function-related units or elements which are placed onto a support and then are cast-in with a body-tolerated material such as silicone, for instance. This operation is carried out in such a manner that at the same time the distal end of the endoscope shaft on which the head is mounted is also cast-in so as to seal the transition between the endoscope head and the endoscope shaft.
It has turned out that the conventional manufacturing mode of such an endoscope is very expensive especially due to the structure of the endoscope head and therefore endoscopes which can repeatedly be used are efficient. These have the drawback, however, that they always have to be disinfected in a costly manner.